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Sunday, 22 April 2012

There are days when even my peculiar mind surprises me....
This morning in kirk as the Gospel was being read [Luke 24: 36-48] the following verse managed to gently distract me from higher thoughts:42They gave him a piece of broiled fish,
43and he took it and ate in their presence.
'Broiled fish', I wondered.
'Broiled'?
What on earth is 'broiled' fish?
I'd heard the term for years - every time that particular reading had come around the lectionary cycle once again - and it struck me that I actually hadn't a clue what it meant.
And so my tiny mind began to play around with cookery terminology, racking brain to remind self of what broiling involved.
The sermon drifted in and out of my consciousness...at times, I nodded in agreement with points made, such as our peculiar church language and how, outwith the kirk, folk would probably scratch their heads wondering what such and such a term meant. I confess, I immediately thought of the term 'intimations' - not as potentially exciting or lurid as might at first seem. But then my thoughts snaked back to the wretched word 'broiled', with no defining joy in sight. It's not as if I had never seen the word before, but today, for some bizarre reason, it just stood out and vexed my wee mind.
Now at home, I have just looked it up.
Aha!
Apparently it's what our American friends over the Pond mean by grilling.
So... Jesus ate a piece of grilled fish.
Further Messianic/scriptural validation for barbecues, thought I.
And so, with that scintillatingly deep spiritual insight, my mind is at rest once more.

Wednesday, 18 April 2012

A lovely time last week, which saw me at a worship conference at the Cathedral of the Isles on the Isle of Cumbrae. This was put on as a pilot by Ministries Council as they explore reshaping the conference component of our training. The conference itself was led in very chilled out fashion by John Bell - who told us stories, shared his insights and experiences, and got us all thinking and talking. Unlike the usual conference frenzy of sessions and activities, with hosts of speakers on all manner of subjects, this smaller and more sharply defined conference gave time and space to reflect and be, as well as do. I am still chewing on all the food for thought provided, but certainly think that as a way forward for how we learn in our time of training, this really worked very, very well. It also helped that the setting was so scenic and that folk were able to go off and ponder quietly about the island, regroup, and then come back for more.

In the meantime, I am once again ensconced in the halls of New College, working my way through kirk session records, knee-deep in 16th c. fornication, adultery, and drunkenness...and so I plough on with the thesis of doooom.

G'day

About Me

I am:
a fan of ginger beer; walking on the beach; thinly spread vegemite on hot, buttered toast; warm hearths on wintry days and warm hearts most every day....
Rather fond of:
Protestant reformers with long, flowing beards; spontaneous musical gatherings; conversations silly and serious over good cups of coffee....
Quite partial to:
early modern Scottish church history; sunsets that leave me breathless; Orkney, the Inner Hebrides and the beauty of East Lothian; chocolate....
I think that the bible's a cracking read; that Jesus is pretty amazing; and that life is a rather surprising and amazing thing....
I tend to:
wander and wonder and try to be thankful, as I ponder and process this pilgrim way....
I know:
the healing power of laughter; 'that my Redeemer lives - what joy that blessed assurance gives'; that 'the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice'; the peculiar, aching, joyful beauty that is Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis, and how it moves my soul....
I give thanks:
not always, for I can be forgetful or overly-busy...yet, nevertheless, God is good and I am blessed indeed.